Yogi Adityanath Government Is Looking To Solve Healthcare Problem In Uttar Pradesh

Yogi Adityanath Government:-Close to completing 100 days in power, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has initiated the process for a major revamp of the healthcare problem in Uttar Pradesh. Banking on technology, the state health ministry has drawn up a blue print for overcoming the challenge of shortage of doctors and infrastructure. According to government officials, there is a shortage of 7,000 MBBS doctors, 18,000 paramedical staffs even as a majority of hospitals needs upgradation. The government plans to address this challenge by using technology for telemedicine, conducting walk-in-interviews, appointing BUMS doctors at primary healthcare (PHC) level and upgrading the existing hospitals with the help of World Bank.

“Availability of the doctors, medicine, technicians and equipments are key for the improvement of healthcare service delivery. However, we have a shortage of 7,000 MBBS doctors and 18,000 paramedic staff. To overcome this, we are taking a two-pronged approach—first, we are using existing doctors and infrastructure to the optimal and second, we are going to launch an universal telemedicine service in the state,” said Uttar Pradesh health minister Sidharth Nath Singh. According to officials, very soon, government will come out with a tender to roll out telemedicine services. “Once that happens, we will be able to narrow the gap because through telemedicine, if you need 100 doctors, you may survive with 10 doctors,” said Singh.

UP already has a dedicated telemedicine facility at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow but Singh is of the view that it is very small and the state would need an universal telemedicine setup that can reach out to primary healthcare centres (PHC) across the state. “When you talk about telemedicine, it has to be universal. It must touch the primary healthcare centres, not just a medical college,” he said.